You’ve probably heard about “Magic Mike,” the Channing Tatum-starring movie about a troupe of male strippers that was released in theaters this summer to a nation of snickers and surprisingly robust box office. What you may not have realized is that “Magic Mike” was directed by Steven Soderbergh, a filmmaker who knows how to subvert expectations and craft entertaining movies out of the unlikeliest subject material — stuff like “Out of Sight,” “Traffic,” “Erin Brockovich,” the “Ocean’s” trilogy and “Contagion,” to name some examples.

That automatically gives it a bit more respectability than your average male stripper movie, and it’s no surprise that “Magic Mike” is a witty and charming romantic comedy that offers a lot more than eye candy.

Tatum stars as Mike, a contractor and wannabe furniture designer who makes a large amount of his income working a Tampa strip joint. He’s content partying his nights away for now, but is saving money to get his business off the ground, though the club’s owner (Matthew McConaughey) has his sights set on expanding his business to Miami, which would lock Mike into stripping for years to come.

All of this is already heavy on Mike’s mind when he meets Adam (Alex Pettyfer), a young man who is tempted by the long nights and party lifestyle of the stripping business and joins the crew; Mike befriends him and starts a tentative romance with his sister (Cody Horn), who asks Mike to watch out for her brother.

Complications ensue, even as Soderbergh keeps things light and funny and crafts a number of, well, dance sequences that will satisfy folks who came only for the stripping. For everyone else, “Magic Mike” is quite good, apart from its “stripper movie” stigma; amid the glitz and partying, Soderbergh is telling an interesting story about the commoditization of people in recession-era America, and what we will do when we want to move up in the world. $28.98 DVD, $35.99 Blu-ray.

“MADEA’S WITNESS PROTECTION”

As long as Tyler Perry’s “Madea” movies keep making money, I guess they’ll keep going back to the well, but “Madea’s Witness Protection” — probably my least favorite of Perry’s movies so far — is compelling evidence to quit. At this point in the film series — which has stretched on and on, interminably, in one overlong movie after another — the Madea character has never been more irritating, particularly in the second half of “Witness Protection,” where Perry’s mugging and preening is like nails on a chalkboard.

But it’s not like Madea as a character brings the movie down by herself; Perry’s typical slapstick-filled hackneyed scenarios don’t help the matter, because this one wasn’t funny at all (and usually, despite not being a fan of Perry’s movies, I’ll laugh at a handful of things).

But “Madea’s Witness Protection” somehow has no stakes, either, and if the jokes aren’t good, there’s no compelling reason to keep watching. Eugene Levy stars as a milquetoast executive set up by his sleazy bosses to be the fall guy for their Ponzi scheme. Targeted by the mob and afraid to testify, a federal agent (Perry) sends the executive and his family — including his wife (Denise Richards) and mother (Doris Roberts) — to his aunt Madea’s house in Atlanta. Hilarity ensues as the irascible Madea has to deal with her unwanted houseguests, while helping to find a way to clear the executive’s name. When the subtlest, most grounded performer is Denise Richards, you’re in trouble. $29.95 DVD, $39.99 Blu-ray.

“ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER”

First of all, the premise of Timur Bekmambetov’s horrendous new historical action film — which I suspect you can glean from the title — is not inherently disqualifying. Fun movies have been made of dumber material, and while the Civil War and Lincoln as a historical personality are borderline sacrosanct material, there’s no reason that a decent, silly and reasonably self-aware movie couldn’t have been made surrounding it. But I hated “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” because it’s repetitive, ugly-looking, boring, no fun on even an ironic level and it creeps pretty close to being offensive with its reasoning behind slavery and the Civil War. (Maybe I’m oversensitive, but boiling down the motivations behind the entire war in the first place to “evil monsters want to eat people” seems damagingly simplistic, though no one would ever take this seriously, so maybe it doesn’t matter. There’s something about that concept that just seems extremely insensitive.)

Benjamin Walker stars as Lincoln, who trains from a young age to slay the beasts responsible for the death of his mother, and discovers a plot that has led them to seize control of the South, secede from the Union and rely on slavery as a perpetual food source. (Maybe I’m not oversensitive about that after all. That’s just gross.)

Rufus Sewell is the bad guy; Dominic Cooper is Lincoln’s mentor; Mary Elizabeth Winstead is Mary Todd Lincoln. There is no fun to be had here, not even for fans of Bekmambetov’s insane previous films, because none of the visual invention or wit found in those can be found here. Avoid. $29.98 DVD, $39.99 Blu-ray.

“SEEKING A FRIEND FOR THE END OF THE WORLD”

There’s a reason that dark comedies don’t do well at the box office, even when they’re crafted with care to walk that steady line between tones. Many people just don’t have that sense of humor, laughing at the gallows. So “Seeking a Friend for the End of the World,” which presents a sort of gallows situation for the entire planet, wasn’t terribly popular in theaters this summer, which is just as well, as I didn’t find the film was particularly skilled with balancing the mordant nature of its setting with the treacly and pretty standard romantic comedy plot.

As the film begins, mankind has three more weeks of existence, and Dodge (Steve Carell) has just been left by his wife. Even as society reacts in different ways to the impending doom — chaos, suicide or unchecked debauchery and drug use — Dodge is stuck in a rut, until he meets his neighbor, Penny (Keira Knightley). Dodge wants to track down his long-lost love before it all ends; Penny needs to find a plane to go back home to England, which Dodge can supply.

The two hit the road, and encounter a number of tragicomic situations; this episodic structure makes the film feel slipshod at points, and it’s hard to buy the burgeoning relationship between Dodge and Penny, which is of course developing throughout their last weeks alive. “Seeking a Friend for the End of the World” has its moments, but that’s the best you can say, I guess. $29.98 DVD, $34.98 Blu-ray.

“TAKE THIS WALTZ”

“Take This Waltz” is wonderful, perceptive, smart and features another great, just awe-inspiring Michelle Williams performance, but boy, this one’s a downer, a sort of day-glo “Blue Valentine” filtered through Canadian politeness and furtive glances, at least up to the point where it emotionally wrecks you. Williams stars as Margot, a young woman married to Lou (Seth Rogen), who’s as nice as he can be and deeply involved in writing a chicken cookbook. On a working vacation, Margot meets Daniel (Luke Kirby), and the two immediately have a spark, even though Margot has never considered wandering from her husband before. But wouldn’t you know it, Daniel actually lives across the street from her, and the temptation of the other becomes inescapable as Margot starts toeing the line.

“Take This Waltz” is the second film written and directed by Sarah Polley, a young actress and director who gravitates toward what feels like a novelistic consideration of her films, setting up in no uncertain terms her characters, their interplay and the stark choice Margot eventually discovers she must make between the safety of her husband and the wild temptation of this new figure. Despite some lurching here and there in dialogue and setup, “Take This Waltz” excels in presenting its central choice, which is not an easy dilemma; there are no villains, no easy answers, only the decision of what Margot wants, if she even knows it herself. $26.98 DVD, $29.98 Blu-ray.

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“MAGIC MIKE”

You’ve probably heard about “Magic Mike,” the Channing Tatum-starring movie about a troupe of male strippers that was released in theaters this summer to a nation of snickers and surprisingly robust box office. What you may not have realized is that “Magic Mike” was directed by Steven Soderbergh, a filmmaker who knows how to subvert expectations and craft entertaining movies out of the unlikeliest subject material — stuff like “Out of Sight,” “Traffic,” “Erin Brockovich,” the “Ocean’s” trilogy and “Contagion,” to name some examples.

That automatically gives it a bit more respectability than your average male stripper movie, and it’s no surprise that “Magic Mike” is a witty and charming romantic comedy that offers a lot more than eye candy.

Tatum stars as Mike, a contractor and wannabe furniture designer who makes a large amount of his income working a Tampa strip joint. He’s content partying his nights away for now, but is saving money to get his business off the ground, though the club’s owner (Matthew McConaughey) has his sights set on expanding his business to Miami, which would lock Mike into stripping for years to come.

All of this is already heavy on Mike’s mind when he meets Adam (Alex Pettyfer), a young man who is tempted by the long nights and party lifestyle of the stripping business and joins the crew; Mike befriends him and starts a tentative romance with his sister (Cody Horn), who asks Mike to watch out for her brother.

Complications ensue, even as Soderbergh keeps things light and funny and crafts a number of, well, dance sequences that will satisfy folks who came only for the stripping. For everyone else, “Magic Mike” is quite good, apart from its “stripper movie” stigma; amid the glitz and partying, Soderbergh is telling an interesting story about the commoditization of people in recession-era America, and what we will do when we want to move up in the world. $28.98 DVD, $35.99 Blu-ray.

“MADEA’S WITNESS PROTECTION”

As long as Tyler Perry’s “Madea” movies keep making money, I guess they’ll keep going back to the well, but “Madea’s Witness Protection” — probably my least favorite of Perry’s movies so far — is compelling evidence to quit. At this point in the film series — which has stretched on and on, interminably, in one overlong movie after another — the Madea character has never been more irritating, particularly in the second half of “Witness Protection,” where Perry’s mugging and preening is like nails on a chalkboard.

But it’s not like Madea as a character brings the movie down by herself; Perry’s typical slapstick-filled hackneyed scenarios don’t help the matter, because this one wasn’t funny at all (and usually, despite not being a fan of Perry’s movies, I’ll laugh at a handful of things).

But “Madea’s Witness Protection” somehow has no stakes, either, and if the jokes aren’t good, there’s no compelling reason to keep watching. Eugene Levy stars as a milquetoast executive set up by his sleazy bosses to be the fall guy for their Ponzi scheme. Targeted by the mob and afraid to testify, a federal agent (Perry) sends the executive and his family — including his wife (Denise Richards) and mother (Doris Roberts) — to his aunt Madea’s house in Atlanta. Hilarity ensues as the irascible Madea has to deal with her unwanted houseguests, while helping to find a way to clear the executive’s name. When the subtlest, most grounded performer is Denise Richards, you’re in trouble. $29.95 DVD, $39.99 Blu-ray.

“ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER”

First of all, the premise of Timur Bekmambetov’s horrendous new historical action film — which I suspect you can glean from the title — is not inherently disqualifying. Fun movies have been made of dumber material, and while the Civil War and Lincoln as a historical personality are borderline sacrosanct material, there’s no reason that a decent, silly and reasonably self-aware movie couldn’t have been made surrounding it. But I hated “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” because it’s repetitive, ugly-looking, boring, no fun on even an ironic level and it creeps pretty close to being offensive with its reasoning behind slavery and the Civil War. (Maybe I’m oversensitive, but boiling down the motivations behind the entire war in the first place to “evil monsters want to eat people” seems damagingly simplistic, though no one would ever take this seriously, so maybe it doesn’t matter. There’s something about that concept that just seems extremely insensitive.)

Benjamin Walker stars as Lincoln, who trains from a young age to slay the beasts responsible for the death of his mother, and discovers a plot that has led them to seize control of the South, secede from the Union and rely on slavery as a perpetual food source. (Maybe I’m not oversensitive about that after all. That’s just gross.)

Rufus Sewell is the bad guy; Dominic Cooper is Lincoln’s mentor; Mary Elizabeth Winstead is Mary Todd Lincoln. There is no fun to be had here, not even for fans of Bekmambetov’s insane previous films, because none of the visual invention or wit found in those can be found here. Avoid. $29.98 DVD, $39.99 Blu-ray.

“SEEKING A FRIEND FOR THE END OF THE WORLD”

There’s a reason that dark comedies don’t do well at the box office, even when they’re crafted with care to walk that steady line between tones. Many people just don’t have that sense of humor, laughing at the gallows. So “Seeking a Friend for the End of the World,” which presents a sort of gallows situation for the entire planet, wasn’t terribly popular in theaters this summer, which is just as well, as I didn’t find the film was particularly skilled with balancing the mordant nature of its setting with the treacly and pretty standard romantic comedy plot.

As the film begins, mankind has three more weeks of existence, and Dodge (Steve Carell) has just been left by his wife. Even as society reacts in different ways to the impending doom — chaos, suicide or unchecked debauchery and drug use — Dodge is stuck in a rut, until he meets his neighbor, Penny (Keira Knightley). Dodge wants to track down his long-lost love before it all ends; Penny needs to find a plane to go back home to England, which Dodge can supply.

The two hit the road, and encounter a number of tragicomic situations; this episodic structure makes the film feel slipshod at points, and it’s hard to buy the burgeoning relationship between Dodge and Penny, which is of course developing throughout their last weeks alive. “Seeking a Friend for the End of the World” has its moments, but that’s the best you can say, I guess. $29.98 DVD, $34.98 Blu-ray.

“TAKE THIS WALTZ”

“Take This Waltz” is wonderful, perceptive, smart and features another great, just awe-inspiring Michelle Williams performance, but boy, this one’s a downer, a sort of day-glo “Blue Valentine” filtered through Canadian politeness and furtive glances, at least up to the point where it emotionally wrecks you. Williams stars as Margot, a young woman married to Lou (Seth Rogen), who’s as nice as he can be and deeply involved in writing a chicken cookbook. On a working vacation, Margot meets Daniel (Luke Kirby), and the two immediately have a spark, even though Margot has never considered wandering from her husband before. But wouldn’t you know it, Daniel actually lives across the street from her, and the temptation of the other becomes inescapable as Margot starts toeing the line.

“Take This Waltz” is the second film written and directed by Sarah Polley, a young actress and director who gravitates toward what feels like a novelistic consideration of her films, setting up in no uncertain terms her characters, their interplay and the stark choice Margot eventually discovers she must make between the safety of her husband and the wild temptation of this new figure. Despite some lurching here and there in dialogue and setup, “Take This Waltz” excels in presenting its central choice, which is not an easy dilemma; there are no villains, no easy answers, only the decision of what Margot wants, if she even knows it herself. $26.98 DVD, $29.98 Blu-ray.